Regional Child Care Resource & Referral (CCR&R) services and CCR&R agencies provide consumer education and referrals, professional development, technical assistance, data collection and analysis, and public awareness for families, child care programs, and communities.

DEPC acts as the lead agency for CCR&R services in North Carolina’s Region 14. This region includes Edgecombe, Nash, Halifax, Warren and Wilson counties.

As lead agency for the 5-county region, DEPC provides leadership and support for the CCR&R agencies and coordinates quality improvement initiatives for child care programs.

DEPC Child Care Resource and Referral is one of the region’s leading organizations for supporting the quality enhancement, professional development, and higher education of the region’s early care & education and school-age child care programs and professionals. Our services include:

• Professional Development
• Quality Improvement and Technical Assistance
• Lending Library and Teacher Resource Room

Professional Development

Offers support to new child care businesses (Edgecombe, Nash)
Provides technical assistance to existing child care programs (Edgecombe, Nash)
Sponsors training and workshops on child care issues (Edgecombe, Nash)

Quality Improvement and Technical Assistance

Quality Improvement Initiatives is a component of the Child Care Resource & Referral (CCR&R) of the Down East Partnership for Children (DEPC). This project provides hands-on, comprehensive technical assistance to child care programs in Edgecombe and Nash counties to help them develop and implement individualized quality improvement plans. The quality improvement project is available to legally operating child care programs that serve children 0-5 years old.

The Child Care Resource & Referral Staff is available to provide technical assistance to child care providers in the following areas:

• Room Arrangement
• Lesson Planning
• Licensing Issues: General and NC Star related license
• NAEYC Accreditation (Centers)
• NAFCC Accreditation (Family Child Care Homes)
• Parent Involvement
• Developmentally Appropriate Practices
• Developmentally Appropriate Environments
• Budgeting and Financing Early Childhood Education-Resources

For information contact, Shewanna Manning, Quality Improvement Specialist, at (252) 985-4300 ext. 204.

NC Infant Toddler Enhancement Project

The NC Infant Toddler Enhancement Project is a component of the Regional CCR&R Services Program at Down East Partnership for Children (DEPC).  North Carolina Division of Child Development recognized a need to provide help for infant and toddler care providers and implemented the infant and toddler specialist position in 14 regions. This a FREE service offered through the Division of Child Development for infant and toddler caregivers and programs in Nash, Edgecombe, Wilson, Halifax and Warren counties that desire to improve the quality of care they provide.

The Infant and Toddler Specialist can…

• Provide on-site consultation
• Provide workshops on infant and toddler-related topics
• Provide ITS-SIDS trainings
• Provide room arrangement suggestions
• Provide any other help you may need to have a quality infant and toddler program
• The NC Infant Toddler Enhancement Project offers two programs with on-site support in providers’ infant and toddler classrooms.

Through IT-QRIP (IT quality rating improvement) providers will create action plans based on ITERS assessments and implement the plans with an infant toddle specialist as their guide.

Through SETA (social emotional technical assistance) providers will create action plans based on an IT-Inventory of Practices assessment and implement new practices with an infant toddle specialist as their coach.​

Child Care Resource & Referral provides all services in an unbiased manner with regard to race, ethnicity, gender, religion, handicap, and national origin.

For more information contact khickerson@depc.org, Program Director, at (252) 985-4300 ext. 202.